Movie Magic
by Astraskies
Summary: Written for Day 5 of USUK Sweethearts Week 2015. Alfred meets Arthur during a trip to the cinema.


**Author's Note: You don't even want to know how many times I had to go through this to make sure that I'd written 'movie', rather than 'film', since this is Alfred's point of view. From what I know, 'film' isn't very common in the US, but if I'm wrong, please don't hesitate to correct me. FF is being annoying, and not letting me put any page breaks in this, sigh.**

Alfred was somewhat of a movie addict. He loved watching movies, especially at the cinema, when he could completely immerse himself into what was happening onscreen without any distractions. He loved how he could be completely drawn into a movie at the cinema, forgetting his surroundings, forgetting that he was just a person sitting in the cinema, and feeling like he was one of the characters. He felt what they felt, their plight, their fear, their joy.

He liked many sorts of movies - action, comedy, slice-of-life, and horror. And he wasn't scared during the horror movies. Not at all. The fact that he slept with all the lights on or bunked at his brothers every single time after watching one was just a coincidence! He wanted to make sure that Matt was doing alright, and he needed to know that all the lights in his apartment worked, because he didn't want to come home to find them fused, now did he? Especially if he came home later than usual (not wanting to go home to an empty apartment; where anything could be waiting for him in the dark recesses).

Today, Alfred had a ticket to go see the new horror movie that everybody was talking about. 'The Woman in Black', it was called. Alfred was pretty darn excited. He'd watched the trailer for the movie, and though he had been slightly (read: very) wary sleeping that night, it had pumped him up for actually watching the full movie.

And he was finally at the cinema. Holy fuck, he could not wait. Some people might have thought that Alfred was overreacting, but they obviously didn't love the movies anywhere near as much as Alfred did. He was almost jittering with anticipation as he waited impatiently in the queue to get himself some snacks for the movie. He surveyed his surroundings as he did so, looking at the people around him and wondering what sorts of lives they led. Many people called Alfred thickheaded, telling him that he was absolutely incapable of being considerate and reading the atmosphere, but Alfred didn't think that he was very dense. He just preferred to live in the moment and not dwell on things too long.

He tuned into a conversation the couple in front of him were having, watching them as they talked.

"I don't like horror movies! Why'd we have to watch this?!" An auburn-haired man wailed to his blond companion, who sighed. Alfred noticed that he - the auburn-haired one - sounded Italian.

"Yes, yes, I know you don't like scary things Feliciano. But you were the one who insisted on coming with me to the movies, and this is what I wanted to watch. You can stay outside and wander around in the shopping centre if you want, I don't mind." The blond said in a German accent.

At this, the other man, who Alfred guessed was Feliciano, shook his head frantically.

"No, no! I don't want to be left alone! I'd rather watch the scary movie with you..." Feliciano said.

The blond sighed again, but gave in. "Fine. But please try not to cry," he said, but there was a slight fondness in his expression that betrayed his serious tone.

At this point, their order had been made, and Feliciano happily scooped up the food in his arms and skipped off, and his boyfriend (at least, Alfred assumed that the German was his boyfriend) followed him. Alfred stepped up to the counter, and a bored looking girl asked him what he would like. He ordered a large popcorn, a coke, and three scoops of Ben &amp; Jerry's, his usual movie food. Once his order was ready, he paid, and grabbed his food and made his way to screen 4. He glanced at his ticket for his seat number.

"H6. Okay, I'm cool with that," Alfred muttered under his breath as he flounced up the stairs of the dim-lit screen room, looking for the glowing letters of the stairs that indicated where his row was. He found his seat, and settled down nicely, putting his drink in the holder in his right armrest, and his ice cream in the left, and held his popcorn, munching on a bit as he sat through the advertisements and waited for the movie to start. Movies were just about the only thing Alfred was ever early for; he never wanted to miss a single moment and so always arrived with plenty of time to spare.

He noticed familiar voices and saw that Feliciano and the blond guy from before were sitting a couple rows ahead. They seemed like nice people, and Alfred considered talking to them once the movie was over.

About ten minutes later, somebody sat down next to him. Alfred glanced over at them, and although he couldn't make out much in the darkness of the cinema, the person next to him seemed to be a fairly handsome young male.

Alfred didn't have much time to survey his new neighbour, however, since at that point, the movie started. Alfred noticed that everybody had British accents, and- hey, was that the guy from Harry Potter?!

A little into the movie, Alfred was starting to get a little freaked. When a crashing sound effect made him jump, his arm instinctually reached out towards the neared person. Which happened to be the aforementioned cute male.

Startled, the man looked at Alfred, who blushed and immediately removed his hand, thanking the gods that the man couldn't see his face in the darkness, and muttering a quick "sorry".

However, when this continued throughout the movie, the man next to him got more and more agitated, before he finally burst out with a "Would you stop that already? The film's barely scary!"

Heh, this guy was British too. The people around them stared at the pair with conviction, until they both awkwardly returned to their movie watching. After the guy's outburst, Alfred went through many pains trying not to grab the man's hand, especially during the rather more frightening parts. Part of it was because he was actually scared; the other part was because the guy was really cute, by what Alfred could tell. However, Alfred didn't even know if he swung that way, and even if he did, he probably hated Alfred right about now. So he just kept himself to himself until the movie was over, and Alfred knew that he would not be able to sleep tonight. And, Mattie was out of town. He noticed that the British guy next to him had hurried off as soon as the credits had rolled, seemingly uncomfortable, and Alfred guessed he couldn't blame him.

He really wanted to apologise for the stuff that happened whilst they were watching the movie though, and he kind of wanted to see what this dude actually looked like, in the light, when Alfred could actually properly see him. The only thing he had been able to garner as he walked after the man as they left the shadowy cinema and entered the light was that the man had a pretty slender build, and blond hair. And a great butt, that Alfred ogled shamelessly as he chased after him, crying "Yo! British dude! Wait up!"

The man turned around, eyes widening in frustration and exasperation as he saw Alfred. "Could you please leave me alone already? First, you annoy me throughout the film, and now, you come after me even when we're out of the cinema!"

Alfred blushed and shuffled, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "Hey, I'm really sorry about what happened during the movie. Uh, I didn't mean it," he said awkwardly. The man stared at him, and that was when Alfred noticed that he had bright green eyes, which had an unusual intensity to them, and no doubt were the most unique and the most beautiful eyes Alfred had ever seen. And they were framed by unusually large eyebrows, which strangely, Alfred thought, suited the man. "Is there any way I could make it up to you?" Alfred continued. "I'm sorry for ruining your movie.."

The man surveyed him, seemingly considering his answer, before he replied, "Oh, bugger it all to hell. Well, I was about to have supper someplace, and I'm quite new to this area. You could show me a nice place to eat?"

It took all of Alfred's willpower for him to not jump up and punch the air in exuberance. "Sure! I know just the place!"

They started walking, and the man introduced himself as Arthur Kirkland as they were exiting the shopping centre and heading towards the restaurant. Alfred introduced himself in return.

Finally, they arrived at the place Alfred had in mind. It was a quaint Japanese restaurant, owned by a close friend of Alfred's.

"This place is quite..lovely," Arthur remarked as they sat down at a table.

Alfred grinned. "I know, right?"

Soon after, a waiter arrived to take their order. This waiter happened to be said friend that owned the restaurant.

"Oh, hello Alfred. It's nice to see you. I see you have a companion with you tonight. What will you two be having?"

Arthur blushed as the Japanese man called him Alfred's companion. Unbeknownst to Alfred, Arthur did feel attraction towards him; that was why he had suggested this dinner in the first place.

They placed their orders, and chatted as their food was made. They found that, once they got past the obvious fact that they were practically polar-opposites in personality, they could make quite pleasant and easily flowing conversation. Alfred found out that Arthur was English, as hinted by the accent, and was from London, having only moved to New York a few months previously. Arthur in turn discovered that Alfred was a born and raised Virginian, but had moved to New York to attend NYU some years ago, fallen in love with the city, and simply never left.

They talked throughout dinner and even after finishing their food, with Alfred laughing and Arthur making sarcastic comments throughout, which Alfred either feigned hurt at, or simply chuckled at. They would have gone on for hours more, until Kiku, Alfred's friend and the restaurant owner, informed them that it was closing time. Both men hurried out of the restaurant, once Alfred had waved goodbye to Kiku.

"So...tonight was pretty nice, huh?" Alfred asked Arthur, trying to play nonchalant as his heart started beating a little faster.

"Yes. I enjoyed myself," was Arthur's only reply.

They stood in silence for a couple more moments, until Alfred burst out, "Was this a date?!" And then immediately proceeded to silently curse his mouth and blush cherry red.

Surprisingly for him, Arthur just said, "Would you like it to have been?"

Alfred gazed at Arthur. The man had an unreadable expression on his face, but under the illuminating glow of a streetlight, Alfred could see that his eyes were unsure, and unless he was mistaken, slightly hopeful. Taking a deep breath, Alfred said, "Yeah. I-I think I'd love that." Arthur smiled slightly.

"Then, it was a date." Biting his lip, Alfred questioned, "Would you, possibly, like to have another one?" He said all of this very fast, and Arthur's eyebrows scrunched up in the most adorable way.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

Taking another deep breath, Alfred repeated, "Would you possibly like to have another one?"

Arthur blushed pink, and stared at the pavement for a few seconds, before looking back up at Alfred, and nodding wordlessly.

They exchanged numbers and addresses, and just before they were about to part ways, Alfred grabbed ahold of Arthur's hand. Arthur looked at him with those stunning jade eyes, and before Alfred even knew what he was doing, he had pressed his lips to Arthur's and given him a quick peck.

Arthur was slightly stunned for a second before he began to blush like mad. "Y-you idiot," he grumbled, but he was smiling. Then, Arthur grabbed his waist, and gave him another kiss. This one was longer, a muddle of soft lips, but still close-mouthed and with no tongue. After some seconds, they broke apart, and Alfred looked at Arthur with an already developing fond gaze.

"I really should go now," Arthur told him. "It's already fairly late."

"Okay," Alfred said. "I'll see you soon?" He questioned, slightly nervous, although Arthur had already said he'd like to continue seeing him.

"I'd say so," Arthur affirmed. "Farewell, then." He turned around, and Alfred waved and called out a goodbye as he walked off.

Alfred leapt up and punched the air, finally letting out his restrained feelings of rejoice. He had scored a date with a amazing, intelligent, good-looking guy, and the guy had liked him back! They had exchanged contact information and discussed going on another date soon and Alfred didn't think he had been so happy in a long while.

As he practically skipped home, glowing with happiness, he knew that he probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. However, he didn't think it would be because of the horror movie; rather, it would be because of a certain man he sat next to during the movie that he would be kept awake.


End file.
